Domestic Violence: A problem explodes

Created: 10/25/2022, 06:00

By: Hans Moritz

Sad everyday life also in Erdinger Land: The number of victims of domestic violence is increasing.

© Steffen Schellhorn/epd

It is a shocking and shameful finding: Domestic violence against women has reached a new high in the Erding district. 

Erding - The women's shelter has been fully occupied for months - especially with women with a migration background.

The consultation is therefore becoming increasingly complex.

The wires are also glowing more and more when it comes to women's emergency calls.

The BRK district association Erding as the carrier is now calling for help itself - it needs more money to be able to maintain the offer.

The District Committee and District Council willingly grant the additional funds.

In the district committee, head Steffi Irmscher-Grothen presented the - sobering - balance sheet.

"The women's shelter with five places for women and up to nine for children has been fully occupied since January, every day.

We get eight to nine inquiries a week.

At the moment, we have 100 percent foreigners.” The care effort is therefore significantly higher, “because we almost always need an interpreter, among other things,” reported the women’s shelter manager.

The length of stay is also increasing.

"The women are victims of psychological and physical violence." At the request of Helga Stieglmeier (Greens), Irmscher-Grothen reported that the average length of stay was six to seven weeks.

"But we also had two wives who stayed with us for nine months."

Irmscher-Grothen described as questionable "that stalking is increasing".

And: "More and more men are hiding GPS trackers in children's toys in order to be able to follow their wives," she said, to the sheer horror of the district councillors.

The security of the women's shelter has been further increased and toys are now also being examined for such systems.

It was a matter of course for the district committee and day to accept an additional deficit of almost 40,000 euros for this year.

For 2023, the committees decided on a total cost estimate of 183,100 euros.

Because the general price and tariff increases are also putting a strain on the facility's budget.

Anyone who moves out of the women's shelter but is not yet able to lead an independent and above all non-violent life again benefits from the pilot project of the BRK Erding, Second Stage.

These are apartments and residential groups for a time of transition.

"We're fully booked here too, and have been since October of last year," summed up Irmscher-Grothen.

The project is a great win.

It is possible for the women to start a new life without violence.

For Second Stage as well as for the women's shelter: "There are almost no cases in which women are forced to return to their beating spouses."

However, due to the high proportion of migration, the effort has increased here as well.

In 2020/21 five women and just as many children were cared for, in 2021 there were eight women and eleven children.

By February 2022, there were nine women.

Since then, only three victims of violence have broken off the care.

The district now wants to contribute 67,000 euros.

However, he makes his participation dependent on whether the state continues to grant grants beyond the model period, in which 17 institutions across Bavaria are participating.

After all: The Ministry of Social Affairs, led by Ulrike Scharf (CSU), has indicated that it will “consolidate and expand” the financing of the second-stage projects.

Stieglmeier campaigned vehemently for the district to continue funding independently of state funds.

also read

End of a traditional bakery: no successor in sight - "closing with a heavy heart"

Large-scale exercise with turntable ladder, respiratory protection and emergency stretchers

Mayor spokesman Hans Wiesmaier (CSU) also called for this.

"The state must put this issue much more firmly on the agenda." He expressly praised the work of the BRK.

The third pillar of the protection of women from domestic violence is the women's emergency hotline, which has been in place since June 1, 2018.

Irmscher-Grothen reported an "extremely high number of new consultations".

In 2021 alone, 195 consultations were counted with 78 people.

By mid-September of this year, there had already been 270 consultations with 60 people.

This shows: "Demand and intensity are increasing," says Irmscher-Grothen.

It is also increasingly about economic issues when women have to learn to stand on their own two feet.

"The new independence from the spouses is a big issue." Divorce law issues would also be discussed.

The district is now taking on this year's additional deficit of almost 36,000 euros.

In 2023, the grant will be increased by EUR 41,200 from EUR 68,000 to EUR 109,200.

An annual adjustment is possible",

emphasized Bayerstorfer.

He spoke of a "frightening, explosive development".

So it's not surprising "that the BRK needs more money".

At the request of Ulla Dieckmann (SPD), Irmscher-Grothen explained that the increase was "certainly also due to the fact that victims of violence used the opportunity to escape the violent husband more after the corona restrictions".

ham